Cancer diagnosis as simple as a pregnancy test

A paper strip can sample urine for signs of tumours in the body. The cancer-detecting strip could one day make it simpler and more affordable to detect some cancers at an early stage.

"Something I think that's really shocking is the prevalence of cancer and cardiovascular disease in both the developed world and the developing world," says Andrew Warren, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who led the team of researchers that developed the test. "Diagnostics are really a great way to help a lot of people as quickly as possible."

Unlike communicable infections like HIV and tuberculosis, signals from tumour proteins are difficult to detect. To get around that problem, the researchers created nano-scale biomarkers that can be injected into the bloodstream.

Each marker is designed to interact with specific proteins that are produced by cancer cells. When the two meet, the proteins snip off tiny fragments of the marker. Those fragments eventually find their way into the urine.

The test works like a pregnancy test – a person urinates on a paper strip coated with antibodies that can detect the marker fragments. If the fragments are present, the paper displays a line indicating the presence of cancer tissue in the body. Altogether, the process takes about an hour.

Creative solutions

The research, published this week in PNAS, show that the strip was able to detect colon cancer, as well as blood clots – which can be a sign of cardiovascular problems – in a group of mice. Warren says they can develop more biomarkers to target other types of cancer. The team plans to launch a spin-out company to commercialise the test for use in humans.

But even with cheap diagnostic tools, many people will still lack access to adequate treatment. "There's something very unfair and troubling if we're able to tell people that they might have serious diseases and there's nothing that can be done about that," Nilsson says. "If we're pushing out diagnostics, then the ability to treat should also be at the same places."

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